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How To Increase Your Vertical Jump In 5 Simple Steps

by Calvin Gray - Last updated May 13, 2017

How to increase your vertical jump is one of the most basic pieces of knowledge athletes use in their training. Humans are able to do various bodily movements as they grow older. One of the most basic movements learned is jumping. It is also one of the most basic skills athletes are taught to master. In sports like volleyball and basketball, athletes are given workouts and drills which improve their muscle strength and flexibility. The proper way of jumping is done by carefully positioning the body and preparing the body for this particular activity. To significantly increase your vertical jump, this step is crucial.

A Brief Introduction On How To Increase Your Vertical Jump

Improving your total body strength is an important factor to increase your vertical jump and improving this requires proper weight lifting exercises. A full back squat should come in perfectly in your routine lower body work out as it contributes to increase stabilization in high tension and extra power on your leg muscles.

To increase your vertical jump, power is important for the athlete. In having power, one must not only have strength in hand, but also speed as a factor. Power in jumping is the speed from which you lift from the ground and the strength from which you put on the ground to reach your maximum jump height. In vertical jumps, you have about .20 seconds to use your maximum power to be able to reach your maximum jumping height.

How To Increase Your Vertical Jump Step #1: Understanding The Different Types Of Strength

The first type of strength that can improve your vertical jump is limit strength in which is described as the amount of force you can apply irrespective of time. This is the limit of what a muscle can perform for you irrespective of time. Attention should be given to developing limit strength in the muscles of the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and lower back as these are the most important muscle groups to increase your vertical jump.

Some exercises in improving them includes the full back squat, dead lift, ½ dead lift, split squat, good morning and glute ham raise. The next type of strength that helps you increase your vertical jump is explosive strength which is the ability to develop max force in minimal time without the use of the plyometric stretch-reflex. Explosive strength relies on the innate strength of the body in order to release force in a fraction of a second.

As such, limit strength is the foundation of explosive strength. This is because explosive strength relies on the innate strength of the body in order to release force in a fraction of a second. Explosive strength exercises focuses on improving the movement with more speed or height. Box squats, paused jump squat, jump shrug, clean and snatch variations, standing broad jumps, on-box jumps, 1-leg split squat jumps and hurdle jumps are some of the exercises that increases your explosive strength, which will in effect, increase your vertical jump.

The last type of strength that will help increase your vertical jump is the so-called reactive strength also known as plyometrics strength, reversal strength, reflexive strength or rebound strength. It is demonstrated when you make a counter-movement prior to jumping. Basically, when your reactive strength is good, the force you release and put out will be balanced. These exercises boost the activity of stretching the muscles and tendons complex which will enhance your reflexive capabilities by increasing your capability to stabilize, absorb, and react to the jumping force. The exercises for reactive ability are ankle jumps, shock jumps, depth jumps, reactive squats, reverse hyperextension, sprints and the simple vertical jump exercise.

How To Increase Your Vertical Jump Step #4: Combine The Three Strengths

You may pick one of each exercises mentioned in every kind of strength exercise and perform at least five sets of what you have chosen. If you feel like you are lacking of any in limit strength, try to perform 2 exercises to boost it. Make sure that you first improve on your limit strength before proceeding to the explosive strength exercises because your explosive strength is dependent on your limit strength as mentioned above. Making sure that your overall weight is monitored and the strength of the legs are improved are the two secrets behind the reason how an athlete like yourself can increase your vertical jump.

The Most Important Tip On How To Increase Your Vertical Jump

The most important part of the legs when trying to increase your vertical jump is the calf muscles. It is the muscle that mainly controls the energy of the person and is the one responsible for jumping. There are also other parts of the legs which are needed to be trained for jumping such as the knees, lower back and the glutes. With these in mind, you are not capable of determining your own performance in your vertical jump training. This concludes our post on how to increase your vertical jump, for more tips read about the different vertical jump programs available.